Mikeinlagardette's photos

Chestnut and Oak trees in our garden. Taken from almost the same place as the previous picture, but with a much older Canon Ixus ! Canon IxusV2, 2.0 mpx. Photofinished in Picasa

Chestnut and Oak trees in our garden. Canon Ixus 960is, 12.1 mpx. Photofinished in Picasa

This ancient building is now used as a library & public meeting place. Not sure of it's original use, I think possibly a mill of some sort, and it looks as if one of the towers has been savagely truncated ! 1952 Ensign Selfix 16-20, f4.5/75mm Rosstar lens. Fomapan 200 Creative in Diafine

1940's DeSoto two door coupe. I don't imagine there are many of these left anywhere, and very few in Europe. This one was probably on holiday in France, because it is right hand drive, and has British registration plates and licence disc ! Founded in 1928 by Walter Chrysler, in Detroit, Michigan, DeSoto was named after the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, thought to be the first European to have crossed the Mississippi river, in 1541. Canon Digital Ixus V2

Hotchkiss 686 (or 680?). Produced between 1936 and 1952, - not sure when this one was built. More famous for their armaments than cars, the company was founded by the American gunsmith, Benjamin B Hotchkiss, who emigrated to France in 1867. Always luxury cars, they could not survive the economic austerity of post-war France, and despite a merger with Delahaye, another luxury car maker, production ended in the mid 1950's, athough they continued to build Willys Jeeps under licence for another decade. Canon Digital Ixus V2

Designed during WW2 by the visionary French engineer Jean-Albert Grégoire (1899-1992). Built largely from aluminium, it had an air-cooled flat twin engine, front wheel drive, and all round independent suspension. Sold originally in 1946 as the AFG Dyna, the design was bought by the Panhard company, and production of this model continued until 1954, when a successor, the Dyna Z was introduced. Canon Digital Ixus V2, monochrome in Picasa.

Over half a million of these 2½ ton trucks were built between 1941 and 1945 in GM's Pontiac and Chevrolet plants. There were numerous variants - this one is an open cab CCKW, which, I think, means it is a 1941 design, has all-wheel drive, a conventional cab, and duplex rear axles ! Canon Digital Ixus V2, monochrome in Picasa.

How to ruin a perfectly decent facade !! How they got planning permission for this monster bay window is a mystery ! The two bay windows lower down are not original either, but are much more in keeping with this otherwise stylish terrace. Minolta Dynax 600si, commercial CD scan from unknown colour print film.

Stylish gateway in the grounds of Stratford House, Stroud, Gloucestershire. Probably 18thC, but might be later? Minolta Dynax 600si, commercial CD scan from unknown colour print film.